Changing Seasons (Part 2)

Following on from the earlier entry about how nature seems to move effortlessly from season to season, we’ve been making a few changes this week.

Our wildlife field which we manage for the benefit of the wildlife rather than the rescued grazing animals here, is now past its best. It looked a picture in the height of the Summer but its served its purpose and helped another generation of plants and animals to prosper.

Grasses in our Wildlife field

We manage this field by letting the grazing animals on in late Summer while the ground is still dry, for them to munch down some of the vegetation.  This keeps it as grassland and stops the encroachment of scrub, and as they are only grazing for a short while it ends up with some areas of short grass, some of lightly grazed and some area that are hardly touched.  This provides the mosaic that is so important in sustaining a healthy wildlife meadow.

The field next to it is grazed for most of the year, but we’ve just closed it up to give it a rest, and have had the reeds cut to keep them in check.  Taking the animals off now will also allow a fresh crop of grass to grow for the Autumn, to give them something to enjoy before the Winter arrives.